competitive-intel

Note: Examples below use fictional brands (Acme, Lumi, Helm). Replace with your own brand context.

/competitive-intel -- Know What You're Up Against

You can't differentiate if you don't know what you're differentiating FROM. Most founders either ignore competitors entirely ("we have no competition") or obsess over features without understanding messaging.

This skill maps the competitive landscape at the messaging level. Not feature comparison tables - positioning, angles, language, channels, and gaps. The output feeds directly into positioning-angles and keyword-research to find white space.

No SaaS tools needed. Systematic web research.

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On Activation

1. Check if brand/ directory exists in the project root.
2. If it does, read available files: voice-profile.md, positioning.md, audience.md, competitors.md, creative-kit.md, stack.md, learnings.md.
3. Apply any loaded brand context to enhance research quality - use existing audience and positioning data to focus the competitive scan.
4. If brand/ does not exist, proceed without it - this skill works standalone.
5. Read brand/landscape.md if it exists - check the Claims Blacklist before making ecosystem or competitive claims. If stale (>14 days) or missing, warn that market claims may be outdated.

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Iteration Detection

Before starting, check whether ./brand/competitors.md already exists.

If competitors.md EXISTS --> Update Mode

Do not start from scratch. Instead:

1. Read the existing competitive intel.
2. Present a summary of current landscape:

   EXISTING COMPETITIVE INTEL
   Last updated {date} by /competitive-intel
   
   Competitors analyzed: {N}
   ├── {Competitor 1}    Threat: {level}
   ├── {Competitor 2}    Threat: {level}
   └── {Competitor 3}    Threat: {level}
   
   Primary gap: {one-line from frontmatter}
   
   ──────────────────────────────────────────────
   
   What would you like to do?
   
   1. Refresh with new web research
   2. Add new competitors
   3. Re-run gap analysis only
   4. Full rebuild from scratch